Easy Veggie Sandwich

I'm definitely NOT a vegetarian but what's a girl to do when you're told that deli meat is a big no no when you're pregnant? Apparently eating any sort of deli meat could be risky coz it could contain listeria monocytogenes - a foodborne bacteria that can cause premature labor and stillbirths (yikes). I'm not one to banish anything from my diet (including the occasional caffeine drink) but this one kinda scared the crap out of me. SO, I stopped making my favorite turkey/ham sandwiches for lunch and came up with an alternative. Plus Ez is a vegetarian and I've been touting myself as a master sandwich maker so I had to prove it to her :) She gave me the idea of adding honey mustard and that's how this one came about...

You'll need:
2 slices of Oat Nut Bread (Whole Foods brand) toasted
handful of mixed greens
slices of red bell pepper
thinly sliced cucumber (skin on)
sliced tomatoes (seasoned with salt + pepper)
sliced swiss cheese or whatever cheese you like
mayonnaise
balsamic vinaigrette*
honey mustard dressing*
salt & pepper

Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup quality extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 to 1 tsp sugar
1/2 pinch of black pepper
1/2 tbs water (tap)
*optional tiny squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Mix everything but the olive oil. While mixing with a fork or a small whisk, drizzle in the olive oil into your vinegar mixture. Taste and season according to taste.

Honey mustard:
Mix equal parts yellow mustard + honey

Putting it all together:

Prepare both dressings.

Toast bread. By the way, I highly recommend the Whole Foods Nut Oat Bread (green bag). If you can't find it, Pepperide Farm's Hearty Oat bread is a good substitute. In the meantime, cut all your veggies.

Spread mayo on both slices of bread (one side only). Spread about a teaspoon or so of the honey mustard dressing (both slices) on top of the mayo. Layer one side with the cucumber slices, then the peppers, tomatoes and mixed greens. Slowly drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over the mixed greens OR you can toss the greens with dressing in a separate bowl. I'm too lazy to do this and I hate having extra dishes to wash so I just drizzle it once it's on the sandwich. Top with cheese and the other slice of bread. That's it!

I usually eat my sandwiches with potato chips but this time I was a bit more healthy and served it with some fresh strawberries.

Last Night's Dinner #73: Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Here's a great recipe for those of you who want to practice the art of prepping. There's a good amount of prepping and steps, but definitely worth it!



I got this recipe from my favorite Cooking magazine Cook's Illustrated. It's not too different from Karen's No-Fry Fried Chicken recipe. Definitely a hit, super crunchy and full of flavor.

You'll need:
4 boneless center-cut chops (3/4" to 1" thick)
5 slices of hearty white bread - I recommend Pepperidge Farm
1 shallot, minced (2 if you're making potatoes and French beans)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 garlic clove thinly sliced if you're making French beans
2 tbs vegetable oil (3 tbs if you're making potatoes and French beans)
ground black pepper
2 tbs grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves (1 tsp if you're making potatoes)
2 tbs minced fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites
3 tbs Dijon mustard
Lemon wedges

Optional sides:
4 to 5 baby potatoes
handful of French beans

Step 1 (before you do anything)
Brine chops for 30 minutes in a ziplock bag or in a non-reactive container. Mix 1 quart of water with 1/4 cup of table salt and allow chops to sit in the mixture for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rinse chops in cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season with ground pepper. Make sure you don't go over 30 minutes, you don't want the chops to become too salty.

WHY BRINE?
Don't skip this step. According to Cook's Illustrated, the center-cut is quite lean and tends to by very dry and chewy when cooked to medium. The salt in the brine breaks down the muscle proteins, allowing them to retain more moisture during the cooking process. So no skipping!

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Adjust oven rack to middle position.



Step 2. Gather your supplies & Prep
Gather a baking rack, 2 baking sheets, 2 large plates (deep ones are best) to be used for the coating process and a pie pan or something similar to hold the batter. Tongs and a whisk would also be helpful to have around.

- Mince (smallest possible cut but not into a paste) shallot(s) and 3 garlic cloves. If making potatoes and green beans, set aside half of the minced shallots and thinly slice (the long way) 1 clove of garlic.
- Grate Parmesan cheese
- Pluck and mince thyme and parsley leaves. Set aside 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme and a pinch of the parsley for the potatoes.
- Separate egg whites and place in pie pan. Add the 3 tbs of Dijon mustard. Set aside. You'll finish the batter later.
- Cut lemon into wedges
- Take 1/4 cup of flour and place into one a large plate.
- Tear the bread slices into 1" pieces then coarsely grind in a food processor (approx 8 pulses). You should have a bout 3 1/2 cups of crumbs.
- cut potatoes into wedges, if making
- trim ends of green beans, if making

Coating:
Transfer crumbs into a rimmed baking sheet. Add in shallots, garlic, 2 tbs of oil, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper or more depending on your taste buds. Toss mixture and bake until deep golden brown (about 15-20 mins). Make sure you toss the crumbs around every 5 minutes or so, so they tan up evenly. Remove from oven but keep the oven on. Cool to room temperature then add cheese, parsley and thyme.



Batter:
Whisk egg whites and mustard together then add in 6 tbs of flour. Whisk until smooth, with small clumps remaining.

At this point, you want to increase your oven temp to about 425 degrees. I forgot to do this and had to pump it up towards the very end. If you forget, don't panick - it still came out ok.

Assemble & Bake:
Set yourself up so that you have the plate of flour, batter, coating and a rack sitting on a baking sheet are all ready.

One chop at a time, dredge in flour; shake of excess. Using tongs, coat with egg batter; let excess drip off. Coat all sides with bread crumb mixture. Press lightly so that a thick layer of crumbs stickes to the chops. Transfer chops to wire rack.

Bake for about 17-25 minutes. I like to turn the chops half-way through so both sides are evenly browned. Allow chops to rest on the rack for 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges. If you have a thermometer, the center of the chops should register 150 F degrees.



SIDES
Green Beans:
Boil water and blanch beans for a minute or so. Blanch - submerge veggies in boiling water for a minute or so then quickly strain and submerge in ice-water. My cold tap water is currently freezing so I didn't need the whole ice-water bit. Dry beans with paper towel. Heat up some olive oil (2 tsp) add thinly sliced garlic and beans and stir-fry for 5 mins.



Potatoes:
You can bake the potatoes at 350 while you're prepping for the chops. Toss wedges with oil, thyme, parsley, shallots and garlic.

Last Night's Dinner #71: Chicken Pastel

My sister sent me the recipe to try but I'm a little confused because when I google "Chicken Pastel", most of the recipes incorporate a pastry crust on top - sort of like chicken pot pie. Anyone have any insights on this?



Regardless of what it's called, it was good . Although I feel like something was missing, all of the flavors were muted and blended into one nondescript flavor. It was definitely missing some sort of acid or punch, so tried to add a bit of lemon (tested it out by taking a small amount of the sauce in a cup and mixed in some lemon juice) - good thing I tested it first because I didn't like the way it tasted. So I left it as is.



It was a pretty easy recipe to follow. Chicken thighs (cut up into pieces), onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes and evaporated milk. You basically brown the chicken in oil, butter, onions and garlic. Season with fish sauce, salt and pepper. Then you add the chopped potatoes and allow them to brown a bit. (brown a little). Then add the chopped carots (cook for 5 mins or so) then pour in evaporated milk and allow to simmer until potatoes are fork tender and the chicken is cooked.

I'll have to play with this recipe a little more... maybe I'll turn it into something totally different!

Sweet!

Look what came in the mail from Hillsy's parents...



A collection of our favorite sweets from the UK - Buttons, Fruit Gums, Smarties, Maltesers and a few other goodies!!!! We're trying not to eat them all in one sitting. Maltesers are my personal favorite. I also just realized that Smarties are ten times better than M&Ms - they have a tastier candy coating.

Good friends, good food, good times...

I'm so pooped! I was out by 9am this morning and I just got back from a very very very long day of Christmas shopping. I was having tons of fun, until the crowds got bigger and the bags got heavier. It's so good to be home. I just finished a slice of Dulce de Leche Pecan Tart and I'm sippin' on a nice hot cup of tea - the world is right again.

Dinner went really well last night. It was so nice to catch up with old friends. One of them moved far far away last year and is in New York visiting for just two weeks. The other - well he lives in NYC but we just haven't been able to sync up for various reasons.






I didn't go easy on my non-Filipino guests. I didn't serve them the proven "western-friendly" Filipino dishes like Pancit (noodle dish) or fried Lumpia. Instead, I opted for Kare-Kare, which is an Ox-tail peanut butter based stew and a vegetable dish with Calabaza, Okra and shrimp. Of course these dishes don't even come close to something like Dinuguan (a really delicious dish made out of pig's blood. I know, I know - but it really is good!!), but the flavors in the two dishes I chose were pretty bold and did a good job of representing the cuisine (at least I thought so).



Luis, is a pretty picky eater and after he went for seconds I knew I hit a homerun. Or it could've been Fabienne's infamous French-tardiness (I love you Fab!) which caused him to work up his appetite. As for Fabienne, I wasn't too worried about her. She's always up for anything. So, I think overall it went well.



I served a Dulce de Leche Pecan Tart for dessert - I thought they deserved it, after putting up with all that fish sauce!

Prepping for tonight

I love throwing dinner parties. I wish we had more room in our apartment to host them more often. We currently have a 4-person maximum capacity, so we can only invite two people at a time - if we want a proper sit-down.

Snaps from prepping. I've already warned our two guests to have a light lunch today and to expect lots of good (fingers crossed) food!


I'm making two main dishes tonight, one with shrimps and vegetables (which I'm calling the "side" dish) and the other with meat.


Can't have a proper Filipino dinner without something super sweet at the end.


This is the best pie crust making technique in the world!


I had to place an emergency call (thanks Karen) last night. I haven't pre-baked crust in a long time and I was going way over the 13-15 minute rule and started to worry. I guess it was the pie weight (rice) that caused the alarm. No worries - it took about 20 mins to get it at this state.

Dear Santa... Part 2 - Food & Cooking

If only you could see the size of my kitchen, you'd understand that I really don't have the space for one more kitchen appliance or even a pan. My cabinets are like booby traps - you never know what will fall on your head when opened.

So here's my If I had more cabinets and counter space wishlist!



COOKBOOKS
Every time I see a book sale, I can't resist getting at least one more cookbook...
1. Lidia's Italy: 140 Simple and Delicious Recipes from the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, Tanya Bastianich Manuali $23.10
2. Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen, Clotilde Dusoulier $12.89
3. Falling Cloudberries, Tessa Kiros $30.26
4. Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen, Gina DePalma $23.10
5. Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth, Jill O'Connor $15.61
6. Pure Dessert, Alice Medrich $23.10
7. (not pictured) Basics: The Foundations of Modern Cooking, Filip Verheyden $19.77



KITCHEN TOOLS
The following tools are great stocking stuffers, with the exception of the Food Processor.
1. KitchenAid KFP750CR 700-Watt 12-Cup Food Processor, Chrome $199.95
2. I'm not sure how I'm living without one of these - Mario Batali Slotted Fish Turner $7.95
3. or this Typhoon Professional Cook's Wire Skimmer $9.99
4. I can't cook without my Tongs and would love a flat one just like this one Chef'n Tongo 12-Inch Stainless Steel and Silicone Tong Huckleberry $14.95
5. I haven't had an urgent need for a hand blender, so I'm really not sure why I'm obsessed with owning one. I might have seen it being used on Top Chef for soup-making Cuisinart CSB-76 Smart Stick Hand Blender $29.95
6. I hear that "Y" shaped peelers are easier to use than the more traditional shape - Zyliss Y-Peeler $6.99
7. Another item that I don't have and wonder how I do without Mario Batali 0-49307 13" Pasta Server, Solid Beechwood $6.95
8. (not pictured) Anything from Le Creuset. My batali dutch oven gets most of the abuse in my kitchen and I would love for it to have a few friends. These oval dishes would be perfect for both cooking and serving. Oh and these cute Petite Au Gratin dishes! If you're looking for a set, the 6 piece classic set would probably be my top choice.



FOOD
I can spend all day in a gourmet food store. I love roaming the aisles and perusing exotic ingredients that I've never heard of or used in the past.

1. Bee Raw Varietal Honeys, Set of 9 $79
I guess I was taken by the packaging. This set includes 9 of America's finest regional honeys - perfect for honey & butter on bread!
2. Artisanal salt sampler $165
I'm obsessed with seasoning my food properly and I've just recently discovered the difference that salt can make in any dish. Not enough - and a perfectly executed recipe can go south. The words "does it need more salt?" always follow Hillsy's first bite of anything. This 24-jar sampler of salts from around the world, from Bali to Peru, offers food-lovers the opportunity to experiment with subtle, exotic flavorings.
3. Dean & Deluca Spice collections
I dream of covering one of my kitchen walls with a huge spice rack. Dean & Deluca has a great selection of herbs and spices. I would be happy to receive any of their collections (Indian, French, Mexican, Spanish, Middle Eastern or Chinese). It would be fun to explore new recipes and concentrate on a new spice per week.
4. White Truffle Butter by D'artagnan $10.99 - this would be perfect for the Odette Fada Raviolo recipe I want to try. Lord knows I won't be buying an actual truffle anytime soon ( $490-$820)!!! The white truffle hails from Italy's Piedmont region. It has an earthy, garlicky aroma and flavor. This decadent treat adds armomatic flavor to any menu. It will jazz up risottos, baked potates, and asparagus.
5. DEAN & DELUCA Salt Essentials $135
D&S's collection includes six artisinal salts from around the world. "Murray River is mild and adds flavor and texture to your meat and chops. Himalayan Pink is harvested from the beds of ancient sea salt with a mild flavor and pale pink color. Alaea has natural purified Alaea clay that imparts a mild earthiness. Mix with herbs to coat meats or fish that seals in moisture while roasting. Fleur de sel is known as the caviar of salts with a delicate flavor and moist texture. Fumee de sel has a savory oak flavor with a hint of sweetness. Cyprus flake is an extremely mild salt used for cooking, baking and garnishing."
6. (not pictured) Exotic Thai or Indian spices from Nirmala's Kitchen (one of Martha's secret sources).

see Dear Santa... Part 1 - Crafting

Last Night's Dinner #67: Arroz Caldo

Arroz Caldo is a cross between a savory porridge and risotto. You basically boil chicken and rice in chicken stock until the rice gets mushy and creamy. The flavor comes from a generous amount of fresh ginger, onions, garlic and fish sauce.

My mom used to make this during the colder months and when anyone was feeling under the weather. So it was just natural for me to crave this since I've been hit with a major sore throat. So I IM'ed Karen for some tips.

3 tbs vegetable or canola oil
3 thumb-size fresh ginger, peeled and cut into fairly big slices
1/4 onion chopped or 1 shallot (optional)
4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
4-5 chicken thighs, skinless
1 cup of rice (I used Jasmine)
1-32oz carton of chicken stock
2 cups of tap water
fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste



Heat up oil and fry garlic slices - don't burn. Remove from oil and set aside.
Add ginger and onion/shallot (if using) to the same oil and constantly stir to prevent burning. Season with salt & pepper.



Add well seasoned chicken and brown both sides. Remove and set aside. Don't worry if the chicken isn't fully cooked, it will finish cooking in the broth. Add rice to oil and stir for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper.



Add broth and mix (deglaze bottom of pan). Add back chicken and allow to boil. Add 1/2 tbs of fish sauce. You might need more, depending on your taste bud. Add 1 cup of water and stir - allow to be re-absorbed by the rice. Lower heat. You may need to add more water - you want the rice to thicken up, almost mushy. The broth should also thicken and less "soupy". Add the rest of the water and again allow to boil and be absorbed. Total "simmer time" - about 30-40 mins

Serve with a couple of slices of lemon and top with garlic flakes. I love lemon juice in my arroz caldo, I think it creates a good balance with the ginger, garlic, fish sauce and chicken.

Last Night's Dinner #64: A Traditional Filipino Breakfast

Leftover ham is the best and boy do we have plenty left from Thanksgiving night!

Bone-in ham immediately takes me back to my childhood years. I remember my father bringing home a huge ham wrapped in paper for the holidays. The best part for me was knowing exactly what we would be having for breakfast the next day - sugared ham, fried eggs and garlic fried rice.

As you can see, I didn't grow up eating Cheerios for breakfast or pouring milk out of a carton. I grew up eating rice for breakfast and milk was delivered daily in glass bottles. And it was goat's milk, not cow's milk.


This dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast!


Just coat the ham slices with sugar and pan fry with a little bit of vegetable oil. Cook until both sides are nice and dark (caramelized).

Sinangag (Garlic fried rice) is very simple to make. Day old rice works better than freshly cooked rice. If you don't have day old rice - make sure you cool the rice completely then put it it the fridge for at least an hour. You don't want to make this with sticky rice.


Smash three to five cloves of garlic (leave skin on). Heat up a tablespoon of vegetable oil and start cooking garlic. You don't want to burn the garlic. Add the rice and stir frequently. You want drizzle in oil a teaspoon at a time. I find that doing it this way requires less oil and I don't feel so guilty =). I probably end up using 2 tablespoons of oil in total. I also season the rice with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

As for the egg, just fry up an egg until sides are golden brown.

I guess this combination falls into what some would refer to as "Tosilog". Filipinos love making up words and I think there are about 3 types of "-silog" dishes. The term is made up of the three main ingredients. The first syllable stands for the type of meat. The second syllable "si" stands or sinangag (filipino style garlic fried rice) and the "log" stands for itlog (egg).
The three -silog dishes that I'm familiar with are tapsilog (tapa+sinangag+itlog), tosilog (tocino+sinangag+itlog) and longsilog (longganisa +sinangag+itlog).

Foolproof Pie Dough... I swear!

Hi everybody!! That was a nice 4-day weekend, it's so funny how keeping up this blog has sort of become one of my "day jobs" - only difference is that it's actually nice to be back ;-)



Anyway, you won't believe it but I finally made a perfect, crusty and flaky pie crust!!! I've crowned myself the world's worst pie crust maker in the past, but hopefully that crown will be a thing of the past with this foolproof method I recently discovered.

It all started with an article that I read in the December issue of Cook's Illustrated, which by the way is on the top of my must read magazine list. The article described the science behind pie dough - "The Theory of Pie". They tested and tested until they found a recipe and method that not only baked up tender and flaky every single time but also rolled out easily. Turns out that one of the key steps is to divide the flour into two batches, reserving about 1/2 of the flour for a later step. The first batch would be unified with the butter completely. Then the reserved flour would be added and mixed into the butter and flour mixture until it was evenly distributed. I don't want to get into the science behind it, but it basically has something to do with the balance of gluten (uncoated flour) and fat (butter coated flour). That's why it's so hard to make a consistent crust. If you make the crust using traditional methods, there's no real way to make sure that the ratio doesn't change from batch to batch. It really is a very interesting article and worth picking up.

The final recipe uses Vodka, sounds strange right? Apparently, pie dough gets its structure from gluten, which forms when flour mixes with water. But too much can make it tough, which explains why most recipes require so little water. Cook's Illustrated suggests using vodka, which allows you to add more liquid (so the dough is easier to roll out) but doesn't toughen the crust. Oh and the alcohol vaporizes in the oven!


Martha's recipe calls for 2 3/4 cups of flour. So using my pastry cutter and my fingers, I combined 1 3/4 cups of flour with salt, sugar and butter. I like this method, because I didn't have to worry about over-mixing the butter and flour. Once the butter and flour were completely combined, I added the remaining cup of flour.


Using a pastry cutter, I quickly mixed in the remaining flour until the texture became sand like. I then folded in cold water with a spatula, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough started to stick. I ended up using 7 tbs.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any Vodka in the house but I still wanted to test out the overall technique of splitting the flour so I went ahead and tried the method using Martha's Pate Brisée recipe. I simply combined 1 and 3/4 cups of flour with the sugar, salt and butter (thoroughly mixed together) then added the remaining flour. I only had to add 7 tbs of cold water and I knew instantly that I had finally done something right. Past attempts didn't have the same doughy consistency that this batch had. My success was even more prevalent once I started to roll the dough out - it wasn't cracking or sticky! It was perfect!!!

Now only if I can get the filling perfect ;-)

Last Night's Dinner #63: Baked Fennel Topped with Parmigiano Reggiano

Three main ingredients, easy to make but (oh) so good!
A perfect side dish for pasta or serve it as an appetizer.

You'll need:
(serves 2)
1 fennel bulb, cut into 1/3" slices (cut bulb horizontally)
1/3 to 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
2 tbs olive oil
butter for greasing *optional
salt & pepper to taste

Peheat oven 375F degreees

- Trim fennel and only use the main bulb, reserve about a tsp of frawns (chopped).
- Grease the glass or enamel baking dish with olive oil or butter. You want the dish large enough so that every piece of fennel touches the bottom of the pan.
- Lay out the slices on the dish and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Top with shredded cheese. Cook for about 45-50 minutes.

Some people like to add garlic, I'm sure that can't hurt but I didn't add any to mine. You might also want to add additional cheese at the very end. Have a peek at the 30 minute mark and see if it could use more cheese.

Sprinkle frawns on top before serving.

Last Night's Dinner #62: Giant Cheese Popovers

The Brit unwillingly bows down to the French...

Look at what sous chef Hillsy baked last night!


Giant Cheese Popovers

We were uncertain about a couple of recipes so we decided to test some out this weekend in preparation for Thanksgiving.

I saw Chef Laurent Tourondel (owner of BLT, where these are served) whipping these up on Martha and wanted to add them to my Thanksgiving menu. I wasn't sure how Hillsy would feel about them, since he usually makes Yorkshire Pudding (pretty much the same thing minus the cheese). I managed to twist his arm to give the recipe a shot - fortunately no arm twisting was necessary when it came to eating them and he managed to inhale 5 of these babies. It was hard for him to admit, but he was very, very impressed with the recipe.



I would have to agree. My favorite part is the crusty crunchy cheese crust.
I'd love to play around with the recipe and maybe try parmesan cheese with a bit of rosemary.

Egg in a hole

Happy Friday!!



I know I said no more eggs but I woke up starving and the eggs just looked so tempting...


Butter both sides. Cut hole. Add toast to pan and crack egg in the hole. Salt. Pepper. Turn. EAT =)

Have a nice weekend!!

Last Night's Dinner #61: Nobu 57 Recipes

I caught Matthew Hoyle, executive chef at Nobu 57 on Martha last week and I had to try the recipes that he shared.

I wasn't very successful the last time I cooked scallops, but I think I definitely redeemed myself last night. This dish was pretty impressive both in the looks and the taste departments.


Scallops & Brussels Sprouts with Jalapeño Dressing



Roasted chestnuts are tasty enough on their own, but this soy caramel adds a savory twist. A pinch of coarse salt at the end and I can munch on these like popcorn!


Roasted Chestnuts in Soy Caramel

I won't lie - these two dishes definitely require some prep time, so I would save it for a weekend treat. But definitely worth it!


Trim and release the individual leaves


Cut X's to release steam. Roast for 15 mins/450F degrees. Peel immediately.

Cooking Notes:
:: I cut the soy caramel recipe in half and still had plenty of leftovers for another batch.
:: Be careful when adding the sake and soy sauce to the melted brown sugar - it has a tendency to bubble up.
:: I followed the Jalapeño dressing recipe and discarded half of the jalapeño seeds - I would add all of the seeds in, I didn't think it had enough heat.

Last Night's Dinner #60: Malaysian Sweet and Sour Eggs

Rasa Malaysia does it again!

There's just something about eating eggs for dinner that brings me back to my roots - I can't quite explain it. Eggs and rice... I wish I had these last two recipes back in college when I was broke!

It's a tough call, but I think I might prefer this recipe over the Son in Law Eggs (but not by much) - both are winners in my book. This dish was a little lighter since it didn't require deep-frying and the sauce was more like a broth. It's such a perfect savory balance of sweet, sour, salty and a little bit of spice.


I may have slightly overcooked the eggs

Again, a very simple dish with a lot of punch. Very few ingredients (eggs, onions, scallions, chili, tamarind, sugar, and of course fish sauce) and steps to follow. The hardest part is frying the eggs. The best part is that you can make this in a flash, it took longer to cook the rice! This definitely makes it to my must try list. So head over to Rasa Malaysia for the recipe and make some Malaysian Sweet and Sour Eggs for dinner (or lunch)!

Last Night's Dinner #59: Yorkshire Pudding and Roasted Pork Shank

I've been meaning to post this fab dinner that Mr. Hillsy made for us this past weekend. Yorkshire Pudding is pretty much like popovers but the brits seemed to have mastered the technique of using Sunday's roast fat or lard giving it a more savory finish. You'll also find these puffies filled with sausages.



We finally got a chance to check out J. Baczynsky's Meat Market in the East Village. Hillsy died and went to heaven - pork bellies, hams, chickens, every cut of beef imaginable was all happening in here. We went with the pork shank ($8) and we weren't disappointed.



I'll update the post once I get Hillsy's recipe for the pudding. The shank was baked in the oven at 425F for about 1 hour and skin crisped in the broiler. Next time, we might consider lowering the heat and cooking it for a couple more hours or even braising it in dark beer.

The gravy was a last minute addition and was made out of carrots, celery, shallots and chicken stock (chicken because we didn't have beef stock).

Last Night's Dinner #57: Son in Law Eggs

Mmmmmm this was soooooo good.

I never ever ever heard of deep-frying hard boiled eggs before, until I landed on the Rasa Malaysia blog. First of all, this blog is amazing - beautiful food shots, her photo styling is immaculate and the dishes she whips up on a daily basis has me thinking about applying to be a live-in maid for free (as long as the food is included).


Deep-fried hard boiled eggs and fried shallots

It's such a simple dish but one of the most tastiest things I've made all year. I can totally see someone winning Top Chef with this dish.

It was very easy to make as long as you're not jittery about deep frying and messing around with 400F degree oil.

I had to substitute brown sugar for palm sugar and I also used Chunky Peanut Butter for "ground peanuts".

Just note that the shallots brown up almost immediately. My oil was super super hot after I fried the eggs so I turned off the heat before adding in the shallots (and they still cooked immediately). So just be careful!!!

Make this now! You won't regret it. And who can resist a dish called Son in Law Eggs?